Help with aquarium plants

This is a discussion on Help with aquarium plants within the Beginner Planted Aquarium forums, part of the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium category; -->
I recently switched my aquarium over to sand from gravel. We are waiting on fish but last week we added plants but now a ...

I recently switched my aquarium over to sand from gravel. We are waiting on fish but last week we added plants but now a few are dying. I have had aquarium plants before but i am thinking maybe it is my lighting. I am still very new to the plant world which is why i am waiting to add fish until i have the plants all under control. These are the plants that i have. Bonsai (rotala indica), Wisteria (Hygrophila Difformis), Banana Plant (Nymphoides aquatica)

You will not have good luck with Wisteria under that lighting. I have a 29g tank that is 30 inches in length with a single 24-inch tube (20w) and while I can grow low and moderate light plants, I would not even try Wisteria. I had Wisteria fall to pieces due to inadequate light in my 70g with two 4-foot tubes over it. Rotala indica being a stem plant also requires more lighting. The only stem plant that manages well with moderate light is Pennywort.

But there are many plants that will grow fine for you. Swords (Echinodorus species), pygmy chain sword, any of the crypts, Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss. Water Sprite or Brazilian Pennywort do well floating, and the latter can also be planted since it is a true stem plant. You can check these out in our profiles, click the shaded names.

What you have will grow plants, but unless you want to get into a high-tech setup which will be difficult to upkeep, stick with what you have.

Like byron said, you can have swords, anubias, java ferns, pennywort, hornwort, etc. Just look for plants with low to moderate light requirements and you will be fine. :) You might also want to invest in some Flourish Comprehensive fertilizer. It is made by Seachem and you dose it once to twice a week. One bottle will last you quite a while.

Edit: also if you are having issues with your wisteria, you can try uprooting it and letting it float, it may do OK floating since it will be closer to the light.

I have a single tube fixture over a 20 gallon long, and my rotala indica is doing great. Growing impossibly slowly, but growing and looks nice. Hygrodifformis has worked for me before, but it was 20W over a 10 gallon... Might have been the light, but I have a hunch it was all the nutrients. (It was an established tank with LOTS of detritus- I've tried it since and it falls apart, even though I have more light now...) Also could have been the temperature.

The banana plant also prefers more light, but it will often grow well until the bulb is depleted. It will help if you let it form floating leaves. Are you using nutrients?

I am not what should i have?....My research clearly wasn't being done in the right places...i should have waited longer before going out and buying plants. I only bought three plants so i am glad i didn't go out on a shopping frenzy. I really would like to upgrade my lighting....Any ideas under like 200?

You want to try to keep your light balanced for low tech tanks. If you increase your light too much, then you also need to increase your nutrients and CO2 in order to keep your tank balanced. Without balance your tank will be overrun with algae.

I would suggest checking out the plant profiles at the top of the page. On the blue bar, the second tab that says Tropical Fish profiles. There is a tab in there for aquarium plants..this will give you an idea of some of the plants you could possibly get and their requirements.